people with house chickens

[PhantomChikkinz]

Wow!

I have one rooster, Finn, living inside. Ive been having trouble with him being very aggressive lately. He will chase you down the hall and start pecking your feet! I started a thread about it but I just got negative answers, telling me to make him dinner. Have you had any problems with this?

The only aggression problem I've had was with my very first chicken, Chuck. By her early behavior, I could've sworn she was a male, hence the name. When she turned about 5 months old, she started charging the cat AND Roscoe the Pit Bull for no apparent reason. Just cause she wanted to. She also started guarding the dog food bowl from the Corgi, and would sit there and look at him menacingly while eating his food. Hahaha. Then, she began picking on Phantom, my Silkie rooster (who grew up with her!!). So, enough was enough. I gave Chuck to Catherine at Sweet Peeps (where I get most of my birds), and now she gets to hang out on a whole acre with other hens her own size. They get along just fine, and Chuck spends her time (no joke) chasing hawks away from the fence! Whenever one shows up to pick out a meal, Chuck charges at it, wings flapping, screaming at the top of her lungs! I haven't heard of them losing a single bird to a predator since Chuck showed up

I went there recently to pick up my Seramas, and asked to see Chuck. I couldn't believe how much she had grown! She's HUGE!!!

 

[Tacampbell1973]

Quote:
Hi Pbggg. Just wanted to give you a positive answer, I hate negatives....but as far as Finn being agresive..he can and will be broken of that behavvior. it is totally reversable especially at this young age. I have been told that if you pick him up and carry himaround with you until he settles down, kind of show himwhos boss, but nicely, he will readjust his behavior as long as he issn't getting the desired response from you. Dont eat him! Sorry all my birds are pets and i know alot of us on here do raise meat birds and I don't judge them at all, hell I love some chicken nuggets but he is just a pet being a bully right now. There's hope. Good luck

 

[Tacampbell1973]

Hi again everyone and thank you so much for everyones' support and well wishes...Faith is back outside as of dinnertime tonight and I miss her already. Still completely baffled by the whole eggbound deal. No idea why there would be a correlation between bad weather and egg pproduction, unless, and I am leaning toward this theory that because all three times happened right after freezing weather, maybe Faith had to put all of her nutrients into keeping warm and it took away from her egg production. Sounds like a good answer, but i wish I knew for sure. Her full sister Hope has never laid an egg that I know of but I have three banties that lay identical eggs so I can't tell for sure who is laying what....I hope she is ok though, it would kill me to lose her. Any ofmy birds for that matter, but Faith and HOpe are just so small and cuddly that I feel more protective of them, plus they make croaky noises like a frog instead of chicken noises. And they "talk" to me. Its so cute that it hurts. But she has to be a chicken sometimes and so out she goes for tonight. I brought Angel in for company. She has the same hair that i had in the eighties[..no joke
IMG ALT=""]https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/6119713/width/350/height/700[/IMG]..
Phantom I wish i could say that Sissy is anywhere near as mellow as Roscoe is around the chickens, but she isn't. She does ok, but she is afraid of them when they walk on her. She really likes to watch them and loves to come out to the coop to help feed them, but she freaks when the guineas used to run back and forth on my porch roof. She couldn't figure out how to get up there and run with them. Kind of funny but I only started having chickens a few months before you did. Begawky and Agnes came into my life in Spring of last year....literally they walked up to my doorstep and I fell in love with them. Couldn't get near them at first, now Gawky rides around in my pockets or wrapped up in my bathrobe. Its amazing what food does for animals. Well, and love too,but lets be real food goes a long way . Almost springtime!!!!Now I don't know if I will have room for new babies. We rent 53 acres but it is mostly undeveloped forest except for the immediate yard. Also my birds are starting to scare me with how much they eat...5 cups of laying pellets, a cup of scratch, a cup of oatmeal micrrowaved with 6 cups of water and mixed together. And that's just one meal,. I don't know where they put it all. I have 9 Banties and 10 Guineas. I tried to estimate how much they should be eating based on size. I figured eachone should be eating about a half cup each meal maybe a quarter cup as their crops arent' that big. That equals about 5 cups or so....especially now that they don't freerange. Not after that hawk. Really wish Chuck could have lived with me, I need a hawk chaser. i thought the guineas would do it,but their not even full grown yet. Anyway, it's late and I gotta play online games for a bit before bed. Have a wonderful night everyone.Phantom this pic made me think of how good Roscoe is with chickens.... wish Sis was.

 

[Didymus]

OMG The chicks look so comfortable and the dog looks happy. All 3 of my cats, 1 dog and 4 hens get along. The only stinker is of all names - Sweet( Pea. She picks on my Americana she is white, and all the others are brown. She flies up to get to the treats first, she runs pell mell with the door is opened to be the first or only one to get in. Yet she is sweet, just more pushy than the others. The chickens chase my Maine Coon and the cat chases the chickens. Yet, they never make contact. I love seeing and reading other's stories and hear the antics their pet get into. It's been really cold here, and buying a heated water bowl has been the best thing we ever did-for all of them.

 

[Didymus]

Thanks for the ovation. Not sure what it is all about but it sounds nice. (I'm new and still trying to navigate this, as well as not being too good on electrical items).

 

[PBGGG]

The only aggression problem I've had was with my very first chicken, Chuck. By her early behavior, I could've sworn she was a male, hence the name. When she turned about 5 months old, she started charging the cat AND Roscoe the Pit Bull for no apparent reason. Just cause she wanted to. She also started guarding the dog food bowl from the Corgi, and would sit there and look at him menacingly while eating his food. Hahaha. Then, she began picking on Phantom, my Silkie rooster (who grew up with her!!). So, enough was enough. I gave Chuck to Catherine at Sweet Peeps (where I get most of my birds), and now she gets to hang out on a whole acre with other hens her own size. They get along just fine, and Chuck spends her time (no joke) chasing hawks away from the fence! Whenever one shows up to pick out a meal, Chuck charges at it, wings flapping, screaming at the top of her lungs! I haven't heard of them losing a single bird to a predator since Chuck showed up

I went there recently to pick up my Seramas, and asked to see Chuck. I couldn't believe how much she had grown! She's HUGE!!!

Haha wow! When we feed our dogs, he comes and eats out of both bowls and they wont go near it! I think his aggression started when we brought in another rooster who had frostbite. He was living in a cage in the living room and Finn would try to fight him through the bars. The night the attacks started happening on us I noticed he had a little bloody spot on his comb. I guess he felt like he had to be the boss over someone because he ran upstairs and started pecking at my dad.

Quote:

Thank you! I already tried training him today by hand-feeding him to let him know I wont hurt him, and he has bitten me 3 times already. I picked him up and did carry him around, then put him in the other room with the door closed for a few minutes. Thanks again for the nice response!

 

[Chickie Momma]

Patience with any animal and they CAN be trained. I have trained my roo not to crow before 10 am!!!! No its not pitch black and he doesn't wear a hood lol he sleeps in a dog crate med sized with his girlfriend. He crows during the day to get my attention, but all I do is talk to him and respond to him. He eats it ALL UP!! He crows non stop when I walk the dogs outside and quiet when I get back in lol. I put him to bed when I go to bed at 11 p.m. I have all sides and the top covered for heat. I cover the door with a towel about 1/3 leaving 2/3 of doorspace open. The crate even faces our southern windows. He wakes me in the mornings and I tell him I am getting up, he hears me getting up and is usually quiet. I let him and Daisy out and I make them a gourmet meal every day.

 

[PBGGG]

Patience with any animal and they CAN be trained. I have trained my roo not to crow before 10 am!!!! No its not pitch black and he doesn't wear a hood lol he sleeps in a dog crate med sized with his girlfriend. He crows during the day to get my attention, but all I do is talk to him and respond to him. He eats it ALL UP!! He crows non stop when I walk the dogs outside and quiet when I get back in lol. I put him to bed when I go to bed at 11 p.m. I have all sides and the top covered for heat. I cover the door with a towel about 1/3 leaving 2/3 of doorspace open. The crate even faces our southern windows. He wakes me in the mornings and I tell him I am getting up, he hears me getting up and is usually quiet. I let him and Daisy out and I make them a gourmet meal every day.

Thank you! I usually put Finn to bed around 8-9 so I can have some quiet time. I cover his cage with a towel but leave a little space for air. He usually starts crowing at around 8. How did you train them to be quiet until 10am?

 

[kendradillon]

haha my indoor hen crowed yesterday lol

 

[KyleG]

Haha wow! When we feed our dogs, he comes and eats out of both bowls and they wont go near it! I think his aggression started when we brought in another rooster who had frostbite. He was living in a cage in the living room and Finn would try to fight him through the bars. The night the attacks started happening on us I noticed he had a little bloody spot on his comb. I guess he felt like he had to be the boss over someone because he ran upstairs and started pecking at my dad.


Thank you! I already tried training him today by hand-feeding him to let him know I wont hurt him, and he has bitten me 3 times already. I picked him up and did carry him around, then put him in the other room with the door closed for a few minutes. Thanks again for the nice response!

Our rooster Rover had this phase. he would peck feet, bite, chase people around. It takes time. hangout with him, scold him when he bites (but be prepared for many of them) walk around with him in your arms. be the boss, but don't make the little guy hate you. just try to balance him out and it will work. I've read too many posts that say don't bother and eat him. these people are not willing to put in the time to change their rooster, forget the negativity and do anything and everything you think will work. only you know how he will respond to things. Rover snuggles. literally stretches out his neck and snuggles. it calms him down. if you had asked me a year ago if snuggling with a rooster would help him sleep, I would have thought you were crazy. good luck with him, and don't think about chicken dinners too much.